Let's face it. One of the first things to get cut in a down market is advertising spend. It's not my preference, but CEOs almost always reach into marketing first to shave costs.
So how's a marketer to stay "top of mind" with customers? E-mail campaigns are a great start. They are far less expensive than traditional media, although they do require a time commitment.
By sending a periodic e-mail about product/service updates, companies can stay in contact with their existing customers and shore up the relationship, ideally preventing them from looking elsewhere.The updates can address many topics, but should always have a WIFIM "What's In it For Me" focus. For example:
- New ways customers can use your product or service
- How your company has made your services more convenient
- Special promotions (not necessarily price; it could be two-for-one, or referral programs, etc.)
- Ways to buy or get more service online
Another method to inexpensively stay in front of existing customers, as well as potentially new customers, is to leverage social media. My personal favorites are Facebook and Twitter. Both give your company an opportunity to sent up an online personality and reach out to customers who want to hear from you. Of course, there is a lot of etiquette and protocol with both of these free applications (which I won't go into here). So following both of them for a month, and then determining how to use them for your company is a good idea.
A nice article about how companies use social media is 35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action. Among other examples, you can read how:
H&R Block created a Facebook fan site to aggregate its social media activities, engage customers and offer tax advice/resources.
Zappos uses Twitter for employees to communicate with Zappos customers about their shared love of footwear.
Of course, any social media application requires a time commitment. So, it's imperative your company think about the time resources it's willing to give. It also shouldn't drop social media activities once ad budgets are restored. If your company takes the social media plunge, be prepared for the long term.
Technorati Tags: social media, e-mail campaigns, Facebook, Twitter, H&R Block, Zappos
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